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So I read Izzy’s article yesterday and it got me thinking, while those points are good for when you’re starting a business it doesn’t give you an idea of what its like actually running the business and I thought that would be a valuable lesson to share. These are things that I do every single day – that I feel have helped shape the growth of the business – that keep me motivated and pumped up for the day.

So this is a list of what I do daily to help me run The Interactive Team:

1 I verbalize my goals

Every day I get up, sometimes I’m not in the best mood, there are more than a few sleepless nights with two children under 5 but to make sure I leave the house in the right mood I take the time every morning to verbalize my goals. I get out of bed and I stand at my window and look over the view and I say out loud what my goals are for the day and for my life. I tell it the universe. It’s an amazing way to set a positive attitude for the day.

2 I take a gratitude shower

Not everyone showers in the morning and I get that, but to me it works because it fits into my morning motivational routine plus it helps wake me up. So to help me get into the right frame of mind for the rest of the day I use the time in the shower to say things I’m grateful for, my beautiful family, how many great people are in the Team, my own personality traits that I’m able to motivate the people around me to help this business grow – I’m genuinely thankful everyday for the people around me and taking the time each day to remember that really amps me up for the day

3 I listen to motivational music on the drive in

There are some songs that I just love. They really set the tone for the day. I know that Huw used to listen to the Rocky theme every day, its a technique you’ll find a lot of top business people use because music has a way of effecting your mood instantly. I listen to Jack Savoretti every day, but whatever you love and whatever takes your attitude to the next level, make a playlist and hammer it. It’d actually make a great addition to your smart breaks to reset your attitude.

4 I share my attitude

Once I reach the office I like to take the time to talk to everyone I can and help them gear up for the day, share my passion and get everyone into the same mind-frame. I don’t see my time as my own in the morning, I’m with whoever needs me, whoever wants to learn from me or jam with me. Then I run the morning meeting and we spend time every time learning about how and why the business works and what each person need to do to take it to the next level.

5 I keep my energy up

Because my day is so packed, if I don’t take the time to eat I wouldn’t get through it all. We hold so many meetings in the kitchen that we bought a board table to accommodate us all. I love sushi, and I try to eat fruit too – I think its really easy to slip into bad habits with food so I’m always conscious to buy fresh ingredients when I’m out and then I’ll make myself sandwiches throughout the day. Of course, I do have the occasional espresso – but it’s without sugar – so I don’t feel too guilty about it.

6 I prepare for the next day

Every night I spend about 1 to 2 hours preparing for the next day. Its essential when running your own business, especially one with multiple offices across two countries, that you stay organized. I prepare the brief for the next morning, I review all the emails I’ve been sent during the day, I check our numbers and make sure the business is on track and hitting its goals. You’ve got to take the time each day to take stock of what you’ve achieved and what you’ve still got to do to reach your goals.

I’m not saying that if you do these things your own business will be successful, I just now that over the last three years of running The Interactive Team I’ve done these 6 things every single day because they suit me and they’ve helped my business grow. If they can help you change your own habits and improve your own start-up then I am more than happy to have shared them with you – and I hope they bring you as much focus and success as they’ve brought me.

The champagne launch of a new ship, the inaugural drive in a new car, stepping through the airport gates into the departure lounge, those moments of excitement and anticipation for what the journey will be like – this is how it feels launching The Interactive Team website.

While The Interactive Team was founded in 2012, in terms of our online presence it’s been very much business-as-usual for the last three years. More concerned with maximising the opportunity in front of us and building the business, we originally had a nuts and bolts website, purely functional – but three years on its time for our online reputation to match that of our word of mouth.

What our clients have known from the outset and what our growing Team and our customers have discovered is that we are a professional, impassioned group of marketers, willing to go the extra mile in every sense for our clients – its time everyone else knew it too!

So let me take you around the new site, take it for a spin, as it were…

There’s our homepage, of course, where our Managing Director, Gilles Baudet, chose the blue and white theme. Why? Well I’d like to tell you its because colour psychology dictates that blue symbolizes strength, dependability and expertise – think of famous brands like Barclays, Panasonic, IBM, Amex and Visa, I wish I could tell you that, but I can’t. In reality its just because blue is Gilles’ favourite colour. Well, at least he has good taste.

Besides our colour theme, the visual focus of our homepage is the sliding banner. We took this opportunity to show that we understand that these days, the focus of business is not about cities or the implements that contribute to your business (think of that classic stock image: a screen of matrix like data and disembodied hand holding a tablet) – no, business these days is about people. People are the focus of everything we do at The Interactive Team and we wanted to show it front and centre. We also take that opportunity to tell you a little bit more about ourselves with a brief intro, and a brief description of our services.

If you take a look round the site you’ll find the story of The Interactive Team in the About Us tab, it’s a potted history of how we came to be and gives you a sense of the business and our techniques.

In the 4 Partners tab you’ll find the guiding principles of the business. It was really important to Gilles to make a space on our new site to share, what he considers, the foundation of the business. He has built the business around the principle of the 4 Partners and, like any good mission statement, not only does Gilles refer to them constantly to aid his decision making process, all team members are encouraged to keep the 4 Partners at the front of our minds.

You’ll find a detailed summary of some of the services we offer our clients in the Services tab. Now, I’ll admit there was some debate over which services to list on our site, but eventually we settled on these ones, to highlight some of our specialties and ensure clients knew each campaign was tailor made to fit their needs. And of course, if you’re interested in what services we can offer you please drop us a line at info@theinteractiveteam.co.uk

Under the Our Team tab you will find bios of our Managing Director, Gilles Baudet and our Campaign Directors, plus our Operations Director. Here again there was some debate – we have 17 backend staff across The Interactive Team, all of whom contribute massively to the success of the Team as a whole. There are our rocking Recruiters, our amazing Accounts, our beautiful Bookings, our dazzling Data, and a bunch more that don’t fit my alliteration theme – but you get my drift. There are a lot of people involved in The Interactive Team, and while we can’t thank each of them on our site, they’re deeply valued and appreciated – so thank you!

There is our Contact Us page, where you can find our England and Scotland headquarters and of course get in touch and then, last but not least there is our News page – which, obviously you found.

Our News page will be serving three functions. The first function stems from something we feel to be pretty important. We think its essential that businesses are open and honest about the ins and outs of their business. When a company reaches the level of success we have reached in just three years its important that the communities they operate in, and the people that interact with it daily get a chance to know what’s going on behind the ‘corporate veil’ so that’s the first function of this blog. The second function is that along the way Gilles has spent a lot of time imparting his own experiences and entrepreneurial spirit into our Team members – and I really wanted to take those tips and advice to the next level. Sometimes, time permitting, Gilles himself will post his thoughts on here, and other times I’ll compile some lists or reviews to motivate others in their personal and professional goals. It’s a chance for The Interactive Team to be apart of the broader business dialogue that exists on the internet. And thirdly, The Interactive Team is a heavily social company, we are forever taking selfies – look out on our Facebook page for the latest pics – and this blog will provide us an opportunity to share a few of our stories for Team members – and their circles – to enjoy.

So look out for upcoming posts, as we talk about anything from the upcoming team-building trip to Deneholme to the intricacies of building your own business.